V-Twin Forum : Harley Davidson Motorcycle Forums - View Single Post - Installed Baisley spring-BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!!!

ROY YOUNG · 04-05-2006, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newultraclassic

Lots of people complain about the noise in the TC engine. Alsmot universally, Harley owners and dealers recommend 20w-50 for all of their bikes.

A little mentioned fact from the 2004 Touring Owner's Manual shows Table 41., Recommended Engine Oils. HD says that anything over 60 deg F. you should be running 50 wt.....that's straight 50 wt. in your T.C. Furthermore, when the temperature reaches 80 deg. F and higher,(That's almost all of the time here in Cal. in the summer) they show that you should be using straight 60 wt., NOT multi-grade.

Now you may agrue that 20w-50 is still 50 wt when hot and I might agree. But, if that's really the case, why does HD say to use straight 50 or 60 wt?

I run my Shovelhead on straight 60 wt. year around in California here and it's pretty quiet. I wonder if we aren't running too light an oil in the T.C.'s?

Yes, I installed the Baisley Spring, too and it made a noticeable difference. BTW, I use 15w-50 Mobil1 in my TC. It's very quiet since I installed the spring.

Go figure.

newultraclassic,

I mentioned this very thing in the oil section a few months ago and got little feed back. The thread happened to be a discussion on the apparent "thinning" of some types of oils compared to others. I have an EVO and not a TC, but I'm running a 6H and the springs to go with it. Every time I would run it up to 75-80 or so on a hot day, it would start rattling a little. This was with a 20-50 synthetic. Then last Summer we took a trip from here to FL pulling the Uni-Go in 90-95 degree heat, and it really started rattling alot when we would stop and get gas. The 20-50 synthetic was new when I left home so after the noise started, I stopped at a dealer after only the 1st 300 miles or so and changed it in the parking lot to straight 50wt. Harley oil. The noise was completely gone. We ended up putting another 2,800 miles on before getting back home and it still wasn't making any noise. That was a true test for me not to mention the other couple with us did the same on their S&S 113". All we run now is straight 50wt. in the Summer and change back to 20-50 in the Winter. I also had another friend of mine that has an '04 TC look in his owner's manual to see what they recommend because of hearing so much about noisey TC's on this board. I'm really suprised more don't try this instead of sticking with 20-50 year round.